PRELIMINARY

INVESTIGATION
inquiry or proceeding
to determine whether there is
sufficient ground to engender a well-
founded belief that:
a crime has been
committed
the respondent is
probably guilty thereof,
and should be held for
trial.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
Preliminary investigation is an inquiry or proceeding to
determine whether there is sufficient ground to engender
a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed
and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should
be held for trial.

A preliminary investigation is required to be conducted

before the filing of a complaint or information for an offense
where the penalty prescribed by law is AT LEAST FOUR (4)
YEARS, TWO (2) MONTHS AND ONE (1) DAY without
regard to the fine.

Preliminary investigation is NOT REQUIRED to be

conducted before the filing of a complaint or information for an
offense:

a. where the penalty prescribed by law is an

imprisonment for LESS THAN (4) YEARS, TWO
(2) MONTHS AND ONE (1) DAY without regard to
the fine;

b. where the accused is lawfully arrested without

warrant, provided an inquest has been conducted
in accordance with existing rules; and
 c. cases falling under the Rules on Summary
Procedure as follows:

(1) violations of traffic laws, rules and

regulations;
(2) violations of the rental law;
(3) violations of municipal or city ordinances;
(4) all other criminal cases where the penalty
prescribed by law for the offense charged is
imprisonment NOT EXCEEDING SIX
MONTHS, or a fine not exceeding
(P1,000.00), or both, irrespective of other
imposable penalties, accessory or otherwise,
or of the civil liability arising therefrom; and
(5) in offenses involving damage to property
through criminal negligence, where the
imposable fine does not exceed ten thousand
pesos (P10,000.00).

Preliminary investigation shall not be pursued in the

following instances, among others, which shall constitute
sufficient basis for the outright dismissal of a complaint:

a. that the offense charged in the complaint

was committed outside the territorial jurisdiction
of the Office of the Investigating Officer;

b. that, at the time of the filing of the complaint,

the offense charged therein had already
prescribed;

c. that the complainant is not authorized

under the provisions of pertinent laws to file the
complaint;

d. that the acts and/or omissions alleged in the

complaint and/or the supporting affidavits do not
sufficiently show that a criminal offense or
violation of a penal law has been committed; or

e. that the complaint and the supporting

affidavits are unsigned and/or have not been duly
subscribed and sworn to as prescribed under the
Rules on Criminal Procedure.
 PROBABLE CAUSE
Probable cause is the existence of such facts and
circumstances as would excite the belief in a reasonable
mind, acting on the facts within the knowledge of the
prosecutor, that the person charged was guilty of the crime
for which he was prosecuted.

A finding of

probable cause
needs only to rest on evidence
showing that
more likely than not a crime has
been committed and
there is enough reason to believe
that it was committed by the
accused.
It NEED NOT be based on clear
and convincing evidence of guilt,
neither on evidence establishing
absolute certainty of guilt.

A finding of probable cause merely

binds over the suspect to stand
trial. It is not a pronouncement of
guilt. The term does not mean
"actual and positive cause" nor
does it import absolute certainty. It
is merely based on opinion and
reasonable belief.

Probable cause DOES NOT

REQUIRE an inquiry into whether
there is sufficient evidence to
procure a conviction.

JOSE MIGUEL T. ARROYO VS.

SANDIGANBAYAN, ET AL., G.R. NO.
210488, JANUARY 27, 2020.
In order to engender a well-founded belief
that a crime has been committed, and to
determine if the suspect is probably guilty
of the same, the elements of the crime
charged should, in all reasonable
likelihood, be present. This is based on
the principle that every crime is
defined by its elements, without which
there should be, at the most, no
criminal offense.

IRIS KRISTINE BALOIS ALBERTO, ET AL. VS.

COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL., G.R. NO.
182130, JUNE 19, 2013.

A preliminary investigation is not the

occasion for the full and exhaustive
display of the prosecution's evidence.
The presence and absence of the
elements of the crime is evidentiary in
nature and is a matter of defense that
may be passed upon after a full-blown
trial on the merits. Hence, the validity
and merits of a party's defense or
accusation, as well as the
admissibility of testimonies and
evidence, are better ventilated during
trial proper than at the preliminary
investigation level.
PCGG VS. MA. MERCEDITAS NAVARRO-
GUTIERREZ, ET AL., G.R. NO. 194159,
OCTOBER 21, 2015.

The purpose of a preliminary

investigation is to secure the innocent
against hasty, malicious and oppressive
prosecution, and to protect one from an
open and public accusation of crime, from
the trouble, expense and anxiety of a
public trial, and also to protect the State
from useless and expensive trials.

RICHARD A. GAMBE VS. OFFICE OF THE

OMBUDSMAN, ET AL., G.R. NOS. 212014-15,
DECEMBER 06, 2016.
 Probable cause can be established with
hearsay evidence, as long as there is
substantial basis for crediting the
hearsay. Hearsay evidence is admissible
in determining probable cause in a
preliminary investigation because such
investigation is merely preliminary, and
does not finally adjudicate rights and
obligations of parties.

SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA VS.

BERSAMIN, ET AL., G.R. NOS. 212140-41,
JANUARY 21, 2015.

PRELIMINARY INVE ST IGAT IO N

ACTION & RESOLUTION

OFFENSES PENALIZED WITH AT LEAST
PI 4 YRS, 2 MOS & 1 DY
REQUIRED

10 DAYS ISSUE SUBPOENA

10 DAYS TO FILE COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT

90 DAYS RESOLVE
FROM DATE ASSIGNED CAPITAL OFFENSE

60 DAYS RESOLVE
FROM DATE ASSIGNED OTHER RTC /MTC CASES

PRISION CORRECIONAL M 6YRS

A
6MOS & 1DY TO 6YRS X 4YRS 2MOS & 1DY

M 4YRS 2MOS
E
D 2YRS 4MOS & 1 DY

M 2YRS 4MOS
I
N 6MOS & 1DY
 PI
NOT REQUIRED
10 DAYS
FROM DATE ASSIGNED
RESOLVE NO SUBPOENA ISSUED

OFFENSES PENALIZED WITH LESS THAN

4 YRS, 2 MOS & 1 DY

OFFENSES COVERED UNDER

SUMMARY RULES
TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS
RENTAL LAW VIOLATION
VIOLATIONS OF LOCAL
ORDINANCES
NOT MORE THAN 6 MONTHS
IMPRISONMENT
NOT MORE THAN ₱1,000.00
FINE
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY:
NOT MORE ₱10,000.00 FINE

PRISION CORRECIONAL M 6YRS

A
6MOS & 1DY TO 6YRS X 4YRS 2MOS & 1DY

M 4YRS 2MOS
E
D 2YRS 4MOS & 1 DY

M 2YRS 4MOS
I
N 6MOS & 1DY

ARRESTO MAYOR M 6MOS

A
1MO & 1DY TO 6MOS X 4MOS & 1DY
 PI
NOT REQUIRED
ART. 125
R.P.C.
RESOLVE
NO SUBPOENA ISSUED/AFTER INQUEST

VALID ARREST OF RESPONDENT(S)

WITHOUT
WARRANT
GRAVE
36 DEATH
RECLUSION PERPETUA
HOURS
FROM ARREST RECLUSION TEMPORAL
PRISION MAYOR

18 LESS GRAVE
PRISION CORRECCIONAL
HOURS
FROM ARREST ARESTO MAYOR

12 LIGHT
ARESTO MENOR
HOURS
FROM ARREST

PI
NOT REQUIRED
10 DAYS
FROM DATE ASSIGNED
DISMISS
COMPLAINT OUTRIGHT

OFFENSE COMMITTED OUTSIDE

TERRITORIAL JURIS
AT THE TIME OF FILING, OFFENSE
PRESCRIBED
COMPLAINANT’S LACK OF
AUTHORITY TO FILE
ACT/OMISSION NOT CONSTITUTING AN
OFFENSE; NO PROB CAUSE
COMPLAINT/AFFIDAVITS ARE
UNSIGNED/UNSUBCRIBED